Day 17 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. Courage & Strength, Oh My!

Day 17 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. 

Today two different pieces of Bible Verse Artwork.  

We have courage

in Adonai's presence, because we are sure that He hears us if we ask Him for anything that is according to His Will.

1 John 5:14

It takes courage to trust Adonai that he will take care of all things and as long as what I ask for aligns with his supreme good for me, then it's a recipe for a peaceful, healing, and fulfilling life. 

The wrench is my ability to give it all to Adonai and not taking it back to worry, obsess, and create anxiety, dis- comfort. And to want that which truly doesn't benefit me. 

 

In recovery we have to hand it over to Adonai on a daily basis. For lasting Healthy Recovery. 

Step three. 

“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.”

So it looks like this, everyday we get to decide on who is gonna be in charge of our daily thought life, us or Adonai. All free Will decision. We work on having courage to trust and believe Adonai can and will handle it. 

In Recovery our tools are many, and this very healing  Prayer in Recovery called 3rd Step Prayer is a life changer.  

God, I offer myself to Thee – To build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of Life.

From the Big Book of AA. 

Saying it daily can and will change us in ways we never thought possible....

We learn by 

having that faith, that belief that Adonai hears us, sees us, knows us and feels us.

Even when we can't do any of those things toward Adonai. 

Like with recovery. We may not feel or see our recovery, but we stick and stay. 

For me Courage & Strength go together.  

Having Courage,  even when your shaking on the inside.

Hebrew for Be Strong and Courageous, is

chazak v’amatz. 

Shalom.  

Day 16 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. Step 11 Jam

Day 16 of 365 days of Bible Verse Artwork.
Work at living in peace with everyone, & work at living a Holy Life, for those who are not Holy will not see Adonai.
Hebrews 12:14.

What exactly is living a Holy Life?

1. "Do not be conformed to this world." -Romans 12:2

2."Flee the evil desires." -2 Timothy 2:22

3. "Be holy in all you do."-1 Peter 1:15

Wow! So it's about,  Obedience, Discipline and
Awareness. With Adonai at the center of it all. Not a easy peasy task for sure!

Tools.......
We have the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, we have the New Commandments in the New Testament (Beatitudes).

But let's be honest, just trying to follow all those is a daily struggle for me.

That's why Step 11 is pivotal in my recovery.
My tools to try and stay close to Adonai is through daily prayers, Rosaries, Chaplets, Scriptures, Holy Readings  and reflection (meditation).

That helps me tune into to Adonai. And it really is my Daily Jam.
Shalom

Day 15 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork . Step 11 in the house.

Day 15 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. 

Today's verse is.....

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting You show me where to Walk, for I give myself to you. Psalm 143:8.

Daily I personally believe I must die to self. And how I do it is prayer and quiet reflection. Morning is a variety of time for me depending on when my day begins. 

This trust in Adonai isn't based on a feeling. It's more based on the facts to do this, give myself to Adonai makes my day smoother and my thoughts come from a higher plane. I'm more aware where my self will wants to creep in. 

But of course there are days it's just an incredible miracle I'm not using/drinking no matter what. 

Nothing is perfect. Some Days my prayers are simple,short and sweet. And my reflection is minimal.

But daily I do try to the best of my ability to follow Adonai and hear his love. 

 

What we in Recovery Read and believe. 

Following is From the Big Book of AA page 86-88. 

We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man or woman who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order.

    On awakening let us think about the twenty-four hours ahead. We consider our plans for the day. Before we begin, we ask God to direct our thinking, especially asking that it be divorced from self-pity, dishonest or self seeking motives. Under these conditions we can employ our mental faculties with assurance, for after all God gave us brains to use. Our thought-life will be placed on a much higher plane when our thinking is cleared of wrong motives.

    In thinking about our day we may face indecision. We may not be able to determine which course to take. Here we ask God for inspiration, an intuitive thought or a decision. We relax and take it easy. We don't struggle. We are often surprised how the right answers come after we have tried this for a while.

    We usually conclude the period of meditation with a prayer that we be shown all through the day what our next step is to be, that we be given whatever we need to take care of such problems. We ask especially for freedom from self-will, and are careful to make no request for ourselves only. We may ask for ourselves, however, if others will be helped. We are careful never to pray for our own selfish ends. 

That pretty much sums up today's Bible Verse. 

Shalom 

Day 14 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. Step four and five in our face!

Day 14 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork .

Today's Verse pop up is, "Stop dwelling in the past events & brooding over times gone by; I am doing something new; it's springing-up can't you See it? I am making a road

In the Desert. Rivers in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

Yeshua is doing something different. Something New. Letting go of that which drags us down. To become cleansed of our past, our pains, our hurts and defects. 

Step 4. 

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Look at those dark and dirty places we hide for one another. The part of us that is hurt, broken, empty. We write it down our fears, resentments, sex issues, etc. What role do we play in it. 

Then Step 5. 

admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

This is where we walk in faith that we will be released from our toxicity we carry with us. 

Going to Priest, Rabbi, Pastor, Or your sponsor to download all we wrote in step 5 and then some. We get honesty. As Catholics we do confession. Very much the same as step 4 and 5. We make a list of Character Defects (sins) and tell it to a Priest (Soul Doctor) in private. And they discuss the nature of sin and release us from our guilts. 

That way I can truly let go of the Past. For me the only way. Examine it talk about it, Honestly admit it and pray and let it go. 

So I can see the Newness Adonai gives and see everything with new eyeballs. 

Internally and Externally.  

Then I See Adonai's Love and beauty everywhere. 

Day 13 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. Step 11 and 12 Messages.

Day 13. 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork.

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor. Proverbs 21:21.

Again today's verse puts me back to living in Eternal Forgiveness. Which is Love.
Righteousness? Well another word is Morals. How to behave and treat others. Oh yah, 10 Commandments. And New Commandments of the New Testament.
How do I treat myself first and foremost?
With love and Respect? Kindness?
Then of course do I project that to others?
To my community? To the world?

This is required for my Step 11 work. And Step 10 work at night.

Step 11.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”

Prayer and Reflection.
Adoration, Rosary, Lectio Divinia (Bible reading, journaling, prayer and reflection) Novenas.  Sitting in Adoration for a hour while doing Step 11 work.

Step 10.
Continue to take personal inventory, and when you are wrong, admitted it.

Before retiring at night, going through the day and being in my mind and asking Adonai, where could I have been more loving, forgiving and compassionate?
Followed the Commandments closer?
Where could I have dug into the fruits of the Spirit more?
Where could I have cared for myself more? So I could care for others.
Journaling about all this helps me to see where I can grow.
This of course
refers back to Step 11.

If my Step 11 time is done on a daily basis (I mean hour a day like Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said) and If I  close in prayer & reflection my Step 10 is smoother. I'm more aware of my shortcomings for that day and see where improvement is slow but steady in areas of love to myself and others.

Day 12 of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. Forgiveness

Day 12. 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork. 

This is today's Bible Verse that I was alerted to. 

You have heard that it was said, You shall Love your neighbor & hate your enemy. But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

This is part of the Sermon on the Mount. The Manifesto for Living. 

And I always say of all the new Commandments this is by far the one fellow humans struggle the most with. I know I do. To pray for those who have physically, mentally, spiritually or emotionally harmed us in any way shape or form.

W O W. 

Ok hard one to swallow. Really hard.

Maybe the hardest New Commandment we have. Especially if the harm was done that affects us our entire life, or those we love. 

Truly, for myself, being Catholic, it's about walking, being and living in constant and everlasting forgiveness. And that's what this Commandment is speaking of to me.  

Recovery Note......

In Recovery we have this tool we use. If someone has wronged us any way shape or form or someone we love, we pray for the person who wronged us for two weeks. Asking God to give them everything we want for ourselves in this life. 

Like peace, love, health.  

And at first you do this daily prayer it's without meaning, but a miracle occurs. By the end of the two weeks we really do want that all these things for the person, or institution that harmed us.

There no longer is bitterness in our heart. The resentment is gone. 

I'm thinking Yeshua is saying to be healthy in this life and live the Beatitudes, (Manifesto for Living), we must keep our side of the street clean and our hearts soft and open. 

And willing to be obedient to the New and Old Commandments. By doing this we live in true freedom, true peace and joy. 

So we turn the other cheek. I'm trying to daily. 

Shalom 

Sin & Character Defects Collide.

Day 9. Of 365 Days of Bible Verse Artwork.

Ok, so I used to really hate the word Sin.

Then a funny thing happened.
I got into Recovery. And when you do the 4th step you have a list of Character Defects. Something we talk about in Recovery a lot, read about it and work on ridding ourselves of them.

That, I could really get my teeth into.

I have obvious and hidden Character Defects.

Character defects to me is a fancy word for sin, I realized.

One definition of sin is an often serious shortcoming.

Well my Character defects sure seem like that.

Here's a simple list of Character Defects. There are more detailed lists. And guess what. These are sins too, lol.
-GOSSIP
-DISHONESTY
-SELFISHNESS
-RESENTMENTS
-EGOTISM
-FEAR
-ANGER
-HATRED
-FALSE PRIDE
-SELF SEEKING
-CONCEIT
-INTOLERANCE
-ENVY
-BIGOTRY
-LAZINESS
-FRUSTRATION
-IMPATIENCE
-JEALOUSY
-ARROGANCE
-CONDEMNATION
-SENSE OF INADEQUACY
-REMORSE
-WORRY
-ANXIETY
-BEING UNCHARITABLE
-SELF RELIANCE

Adonai can take them from me by being honest with my step work and Confessions.
But, it takes work, prayer, reflection and lots of writing and Honesty. We say in recovery HOW.
-Honesty
-Openmindness
-Willingness
That's the key to my humility and growth.
Repent means to me, admit my shortcomings and hand them to Adonai.
I am forgiven by Adonai and can forgive myself. I can't, he can, I'll let him. First three steps. #hippieheartgypsy

New Year and Them Changes!

2023. What will we see? What will we be? Free?

Every New Year many of us in Recovery make a few goals to dig deeper into our Recovery. We come up on a New Number on our Recovery Cake for our Anniversary. But it's also what will this Year bring? Will we be prepared? 

Will we Trust and Accept what is to come? 

That's where Step 11 work comes in. 

For us Catholics that's Prayers and Rosary, Studying Bible, Cathecism, Doing Novenas, Chaplets, Adoration, etc. We have a full Arsenal of Tools for Step 11.

Blessed to have such beautiful tools at our disposal. Do we use them all? No I'm sure of that. But there's a kewl guy, named Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen and he had a long running TV show. He spoke of The Holy Hour. For Catholics, Jews and Protestants. 

For us Catholics that means Adoration also. What is Adoration? 

It's when the Holy Conscencrated Eucharist is put in a Monstrance. A beautiful Holder that shows the Concencrated Eucharist in Middle. It's quite a sight to behold. 

We sit and adore it in a Chapel or Church Setting. We do the Rosary, Chaplets in front of it. Prayers, Novenas. We usually start out or can, by doing a Spiritual Eucharist Prayer. 

It's a healing, meditative, beautiful and life changing experience, especially done on regular basis. 

It's like Meditation on Steroids. Many miracles occur from doing it. 

In our Catholic Recovery Ministries Weekly Meeting we're Studying The Healing Rosary By Matt D. A Book by a fellow Person in Recovery who is also Catholic. It's about the healing power of the Rosary and using it with our Recovery.  

Highly recommend and we're getting deep into the Step 11 feels. 

Step 5. Confession and Reconciliation.

Step 5. One use Catholics know oh so well. Confession, Reconciliation. 

We take our Step 5 Sins list (aka Character Defects List) and with Faith and Courage we say prayers and sit and wait in line for our turn in the Confessional Booth. 

Then we enter. 

We have a Set way we Greet our Loving Priest. We admit how long since we've been and so on. 

We then hit the high Spot. 

Telling our sins. And we don't hold back. Sins of Mind, Sins of Body, Sins of Soul and Sins of omission. 

We get absolved of our Sins at the end and do penance of prayers or such before we leave the Confessional Booth. 

We can sit face to face in chairs, or have a screen and divider between us as we kneel. 

We do best we can after asking Adonai for help. 

We don't Hold back. 

We leave feeling lighter, glowing sometimes, more clean inside. 

And we sit in silence do our prayers and we thank Adonai for such a incredible experience. 

We Pray for our Priest to be protected and we leave in Gratitude and love. 

Yah it's pretty kewl. It's always been considered Mental Health Medicine and Priest are Soul Doctors.

We do it monthly. Or more. To cleanse ourselves of the sins and messes we make. 

For Step 5 we make a Appt with our Priest and we take a hour or so and go through our Fourth Step as written in the Big Book of AA. 

They do that pretty regularly. 

What a amazing union of Recovery and Catholicism. Hand in Glove. 

 

Step 4. Writing it out. But never alone.

Step four at our Catholic Recovery Ministries Weekly Meeting was all about pen to paper, but first words to Adonai. We know as Catholics we are never alone. Of course we feel it sometimes. But feelings are not Facts. 

Step four can be a big mountain to climb. Or a exciting journey we know not where will take us. 

With pen and paper in hand, we can never go wrong. No matter 1 month In Recovery, or 23 years. It's truly the ongoing pivotal point of our continuing growth. 

We have our Sponsor, we have paperwork that lays it out, and we have pens or pencils lol. 

We Just Do It.

No if, ands or buts. 

We go forth. We do it. 

We write, even when it hurts, we cry, dry our eyes and keep going. 

I can't say it's easy. Especially in beginning. But as Catholics, we prepare ourselves for Confession. 

By listing our sins, aka Character defects. 

We have a pretty long and detailed list that Catholics use. We ask Adonai to show us what we can't see about ourselves and what we may have forgotten or omitted in past Confessions. 

We take time to ponder this and write our list. We don't hold back. For that will only hurt us. 

We know the end game is being cleansed of these sins. But we must do the footwork. 

Being Catholic we know the power behind Step 4 without ever being in Recovery. But with Recovery it deepens our Healing and in Unity with Adonai.